Ming Dynasty, New Rome, and Infinite Divine Machine

"How dare you eat that kind of thing!" Shangluo wondered.

"I'm blind! How would I know what edible things look like? He was the one who said this was edible. He lied to me."

"I didn't say that lump was edible! How could you possibly eat a moving kombucha?"

"Wait, wait." Before the two of them started arguing, Shang Luo stopped their conversation. "Gao Shiyu, it seems like you just experienced being killed for the first time. How did it feel?"

"I don't feel any pain at all," Gao Shiyu replied. "We are above this world, having entered it through a hole in the sky. So, I don't feel anything. But being eaten by a piece of jelly is really unpleasant. Wait until I get in and seek revenge on him! I must eat it today."

A white light flashed, and Gao Shiyu appeared beside them.

"Where's the jelly? Where did it go?"

Shangluo pointed to the place where he had just ascended to heaven: "Over there, it seems to be very far away, I don't even know how to locate it."

Gao Shiyu raised his foot and drew a cross in the green shade on the ground. "I've got this in mind. I'll definitely eat it back when I get a chance. Are there any other jellies around here? If I can't eat this one, I'll eat its kind first."

"What are you so worried about? There's actually one over there."

Shangluo noticed out of the corner of his eye that there was also a "jelly" jumping on the island.

Snap, snap. Every time the jelly popped, it splashed behind it the sweet and sour aroma of fermented probiotic juice—basically the taste of tea, with a hint of sweetness and vinegar.

"It's decided to be you!" Gao Shiyu took a step forward and walked up, and Wen Yuan followed him.

"Hey, hey, no way! You really want to eat it! Is that really edible?"

Before Shangluo could come to his senses, two white lights rose from the sky not far away and returned to the constellations in the sky.

"???"

Two people sent a string of question marks:

"Shangluo, is there something wrong with the difficulty setting? Why does it die after just one touch?"

"I didn't pick this, it grew naturally. Wait." He looked at the "jelly".

It was an amorphous lump just now, but now it has turned into a cylindrical shape. It bounces more vigorously on the ground, and it looks firmer and more delicious.

Chapter 371 How to play

"Hey, hey, can you two stop giving up? You've been fighting Jelly back and forth. I've seen you run four or five times in just a short while. Are you trying to stuff him to death? That thing's getting bigger and bigger."

"I'm going to be serious this time!"

"Come on, Wen Yuan! It seems to be getting tastier and tastier!"

Shangluo didn't know what to say. That thing, which had initially been a bouncing jelly, had now swelled up like the Michelin Man, a giant lump with arms and legs. But these two men, far from being afraid of this, were becoming increasingly excited.

"Hey, you two know the answer, right?"

Seeing that the gifts were getting bigger and bigger, Shangluo gave a reminder.

"Don't worry." Wen Yuan gave a thumbs up, "I've got the hang of it."

"But while you guys are getting the hang of it, that person seems to be getting stronger."

As he spoke, the "jelly" underwent another dramatic transformation: it dropped to its knees, landing on all fours, finding a stable shape—and it seemed to be getting even chewier. A fruity aroma slowly wafted through the air, and it seemed even more flavorful than before.

"You seem to have made this thing into something extraordinary."

"Huh?" Wen Yuan was stunned for a moment - he saw the thing start walking on four legs, and he also found something wrong, but it was still under control.

"Should we study what exactly happened?" Gao Shiyu asked.

"Do you need more research? Look up." Shang Luo pointed at the constellations above. "The constellations you two correspond to seem a bit dimmer than before. We, the 'gods' who correspond to the stars in the sky, control the original true energy from the separation of heaven and earth in this world. If you two keep sending true energy to this one, it will naturally grow bigger and bigger."

Wen Yuan slapped his forehead and said, "If we eat it, wouldn't it be like eating a treasure from heaven and earth?"

"Yes! That's it."

"Hey, hey, hey, I advise you two to take it easy. No matter how great the treasures are, they're only in this world. At most, they can help you level up. If you make this thing grow any bigger, our safe range in this world will become smaller."

The strength of this "something" seemed outrageous. It didn't resemble the soft, jelly-like texture of the past, but instead had a genuine "chewiness." Crouching low on all fours, it dripped fruity juices from its skin, enriching the greenery wherever it passed. It looked like a spiritual beast, like a creature conceived from Mount Kunlun or Mount Xumi at the dawn of time.

"How about we retreat first?" Gao Shiyu suggested.

"I suggest you retreat. I'll install the necessary modules, and you can come back and fight."

"What module?" Gao Shiyu asked.

"You haven't seen it, but Wen Yuan has. Have you seen the Philosopher's Stone? The main purpose of installing that thing on it is to run a copy of the Lighthouse system. Wait until I take a look at the data to see how many levels this thing has and what attributes it has, then I'll know its weight."

The lighthouse system operating here has the same function as Rome's lighthouse system. It can "digitize" everything in the world and add a health bar to this evolved jelly.

At this point, the power level of this thing really doesn't fit the curve of a game. It's practically fatal if you touch it, and it instantly turns into a white light. If it weren't so delicious, this thing would actually be quite terrifying, even turning this into a horror game.

"That makes sense." Wen Yuan nodded. "Then let's retreat. Should I log off first?"

"Well, go down, all of you go down first."

"Ah! No!" Gao Shiyu wailed, "I haven't had enough fun yet! I want to stay here all day!"

"Next time, next time. I'll open the server as soon as possible. Why don't you leave? Then should I call your sister to come and see it together?"

【Gao Shiyu left the discussion group.】

"Well, it's really useful. Wen Yuan, we'll see you later." He lowered his head and operated it. After watching Wen Yuan greet him, he turned into white light and flew back into the sky.

"Let me see if there's anything missing. Apollonia, how was today's first internal test?"

This doesn't even seem like a game, as there's no clear goal or gameplay. It's just a demo, a demonstration of what our system can do. If you want it to become a second world capable of accommodating the dreams of millions of people, you'll need to introduce more interesting gameplay.

"Yeah." Shangluo nodded. "The Lighthouse System is just a framework, and we still need to experiment with the gameplay. But the good thing is that we only have less than a thousand people in total, and we're all familiar with each other, so we can find some fun things to do within a small area. Also, we can send in Tianyi Guiren."

Unlike these "jelly" creatures that spawned from the heavens and earth, Tianyi Guiren were also "primordial spirits" from the heavens. They simply lacked the ability to connect to the heavenly stars, making them appear less noble. Furthermore, since it was their true form that was sent here, if a Tianyi Guiren died, they were truly dead—though death was no big deal for them; they simply returned to their pods and "resurrected," becoming a healthy bean again in a few weeks.

"The nobles that day are the NPCs, our extras. Those jellies are the monsters. But we still need some gameplay, some scripts. We need to leverage the inherent advantages of this system to make it more fun. What are its inherent advantages?"

【tasty?】

“What kind of advantage is this?”

Because it's really delicious. Look at that one in the distance, swaying. Wow, it looks delicious, even I want to eat it. And, I think I can actually eat it. Hey, Shangluo, I want to eat it.

"Why do you want to eat it too?"

[Because this thing seems to be no worse than beef after being grilled.]

"That's too difficult! If you touch it, you'll die. How am I supposed to get it for you to eat?"

"Ahhh! I don't care. I want to eat. My birthday is in a few days. Can't I have some jelly on my birthday?"

"." Shangluo pressed his forehead, "I did promise you that I would have a lively birthday."

"Right, I'm not eating alone. Why don't you call everyone over and we eat together? Besides, this thing is now filled with spiritual energy, so eating it will also help with your cultivation."

“No matter how powerful you are in the game, it’s fake.”

But don't forget, they can experience a realm, and that's what's most important. Many people haven't broken through because they lack inspiration. Spiritual energy is much more abundant now than before. If you can let many people experience the feeling of a realm breakthrough, then they might actually be able to copy you and directly break through to the Qi training stage and reach the celestial realm.

"That's not impossible. It really seems to be." Shang Luo pondered for a moment, "Then the mechanics of this game will have to revolve around defeating monsters. Wait, just experiencing the realm isn't enough. If we're going to give it away, we should give away the whole set. For those who break through the Qi training stage before the closed beta ends, we should also give away spiritual liquid. That way, they'll be more motivated to play. Although it's very difficult, with the help of the Tianyi nobles, the difficulty will be reduced a lot."

He picked up his phone and said, "I'll call my senior and ask him for some sponsorship. Maybe this will work out."

Chapter 372 Fun and Meaning

"You want sponsorship? Well, it's not impossible." Zhu Xianxun answered the phone. "Spiritual fluid is different from money. I can mobilize a lot of reserves here. If you need it, I can sponsor you - but since it's a sponsorship, I want to see your proposal. I won't give it to you casually. So, what is your proposal?"

Shangluo repeated his idea.

"Interesting. So you're saying that the true purpose of this test is to 'strengthen the body,' allowing all the Qigong practitioners to experience the feeling of the Foundation Establishment Stage before reaching it? Hey, this makes me want to participate."

"Brother, do you want to participate too?"

"Don't underestimate me because I serve Daozu every day. My realm is actually stuck. Even as an alchemy practitioner, I can't find any elixirs that can help me advance. I can't use my connections to 'hunt for treasures' like you can. I do know the whereabouts of many treasures, but I can't move here. I can't miss the court every day, so I don't have time to hunt for treasures. But I have seen how you play this 'Foundation Establishment Experience Card'."

"National surname?"

"Yes, Guoxing experienced it once before. Ever since then, he's been itching to ascend. Because once you've seen the ocean, nothing else can compare to it. He truly knows how wonderful it feels to be a celestial being. So, not only can I sponsor you, I think he can do the same."

"Will you let the national surname sponsor it?"

"Yes. If Guoxing sponsors the event, the rewards can be more generous. If you only reward spiritual energy to those who break through the Foundation Establishment stage, that's a bit too meager. You can also have some consolation prizes, second and third place prizes, such as toilet paper, shampoo, etc."

【Why did I think of someone】

"That person doesn't have a badge, so he can't participate."

"By the way, Shangluo, speaking of shampoo, does Miss Phaethon need shampoo at your place?"

"How do you even know this?"

"Because McDonald's is owned by the Jinyiwei, and she's always hanging around them, I think I have to know. She seems very hard-working, so I asked. If she wants to join in, she can join in."

"Doesn't she have a brand?"

"She doesn't have a badge, but you do. Think about it yourself. At worst, you can just let her compete as Doudou, and we can both use the same account—that's settled. Hang up first. I'm going to call Guoxing."

Three minutes later.

"Alright." Zhu Xianxi called again. "Guo Xing said it's no problem. I'll help you negotiate the sponsorship and arrange everything for 'Tianxia' clearly. The rest is up to you. You need to figure out how to make everyone compete with style and skill, and let everyone test their limits. And it has to be fun."

"Hmm" This request really made Shangluo think for a while.

Getting everyone to perform at their best is easy; just increase the intensity of the battles and adjust the tempo. Shangluo can actually manipulate time by injecting tar; he could "speed up" this world by a thousand or eight hundred years before reentering it. With a sponsor, such an operation is easy.

But whether it's interesting or fun is another matter. No matter how well a game is run, if it's not fun, there's nothing you can do about it.

"By the way, Apollonia, I'm trying to figure out how to make the game more fun."

Speaking of fun, another way to look at it is that fun means having enough positive feedback, right? So, as long as there's enough positive feedback, it's fun, right? Positive feedback can also be broken down into meaning and fun. Finding meaning or fun in a virtual world can both be considered fun, and both can be considered positive feedback.

"Eh? You're quite good at chanting the sutras."

【All my knowledge comes from you. I am just saying what you already know.】

"Tsk, it seems I am still more skilled."

So, you already have a count, right?

"I've actually seen a lot of games that don't look that interesting, but can actually provide a lot of fun for a lot of people - like the game that lets you 'attack the sand'."

[Wait, let me search. 'If you're a brother, come and chop me up!'] Apollonia suddenly began to recite the slogan.

"Alright, alright, stop reading. I've been brainwashed enough times."

But this example makes sense. From what I've analyzed, it's a very simple game, so simple that even I could run it. The character only has eight directions to move around the map, and everything from skills to monsters is just low-resolution textures. There's no proper guide, and the quest system is completely nonexistent. Yet, it seems to be incredibly popular.

"Because it's fun and meaningful enough—it offers a huge map with plenty to explore. For example, there are four generals' tombs surrounding the main city, but only one contains a true boss, and it's the shabbiest-looking one. This provided players at the time with a tremendous amount of exploration fun; the other half of the fun lies in its 'meaning.' Killing monsters is like a lottery; even the most basic monsters might drop powerful equipment, just like a lottery, and this equipment can actually be sold for money. And 'actually being able to exchange for money' is the greatest meaning."

[Well, should we do this too?]

"It doesn't necessarily have to be a complete copy. Taken together, these two points represent two aspects of our efforts: fun and meaning. The so-called fun lies in polishing the game itself, allowing the game itself to express its fun through gameplay. Secondly, it's about things beyond the game: imagine, if the server is empty, what's the point of looting? The slogan 'Brothers, come and kill me!' contains the ultimate meaning - the player community."

Oh, that's true. Equipment can be sold for a lot of money because it's recognized by enough players, forming a certain size of player community. Whether it's trading or communication between players, this makes the game's impact go beyond the game itself and have real-world significance.

"So we need to split up. Miss Apollonia, you go in and lead the other players to figure out the gameplay. You'll also figure out the script and the gameplay. I think you're quite talented. I'll handle the other half and build the player community. Send me the forum app you prepared earlier. This pot can not only play games, but can also serve as a server. Let me see where to deploy the app. Let's do this here."

He "dragged" the forum app out of the chat box and decompressed it in Hutian.

"Hmmm?" He paused for a moment. Suddenly, a vibration began beneath his feet. The vibrations grew in frequency and intensity. They became an earthquake, a natural disaster. The entire kettle began to vibrate violently, like boiling water.

"What happened?"

[Over there! Look over there in the sky!]

On the skyline, a mountainous city rose from the seabed, piercing the heavens like the Tower of Babel. Atop the tower was a fortress, and above it, thousands of white columns spiraled upward, reaching into the clouds and reaching high into the clouds, creating a breathtaking spectacle that stretched across the skyline.

"Holy crap! Unzipping a program here will directly reveal a physical object! What the hell is that?!"

[That seems to be... the Tower of Babel. So, deploying a forum will cause the Tower of Babel to appear? Then what will appear when I unzip the Snow Mountain Brothers and Sisters?]

Chapter 373 Tower of Babel

How is it? Can it be used?